Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Robert Hale
Release Date: September 2004
ISBN: 0709076703
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Hardback
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Genre:   Historical Romance [1887 India & UK]

Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Rachel A Hyde
Reviewer Notes:  
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The Golden Pagoda
By Ashleigh Bingham

   Captain Richard Eldridge works for the British Intelligence Service, and has been sent to a remote part of India near the Russian border to discover what has happened to another undercover investigator. The Russians are challenging the British rule in India, and Richard is soon to discover that anything can happen in the High Pamir Mountains. A sudden blizzard almost ends his life, but he is rescued and brought to a medical mission where he meets Georgina Larssen. The two of them are going to have many adventures -both together and apart - and discover for themselves the secrets of the mysterious Golden Pagoda.

   This is a mixture of adventure, exotic locations and romance, like her last book Palace of the Winds (also reviewed on this site). The hero and heroine have various trials to endure before the last page, and if you are wondering whether this is another "battle of the sexes" romance then the answer is no; the protagonists work together as well as having their differences. If you like steamy sex you won't find it here, but instead there are descriptions of far-flung places although I would have preferred a fatter plot with more conflict. This isn't quite as gritty and gripping as her last book but if you want an enjoyable read, then look no further.

   I thought that they don't write them like this anymore, and the days of the gripping romantic suspense tales of Victoria Holt were long gone, but Ashleigh Bingham is swimming against the tide and a good thing, too, for all those who had all but forgotten how good this sort of thing can be, or for those who are new to the genre. My favorite sort of romantic novel.